The march of time and the "evolution" of change.

Abstract:

Change and organisational change are some of the most discussed topics of our time. Yet despite this, reported success rates for major organisational change initiatives remain exceptionally poor. Part of the problem is that contemporary change management practices assume a stable, unidimensional concept of organisational change. By contrast an analysis of organisational and systems thinking over the past five decades or so reveals an evolving concept of organisation and consequently invalidates the assumption of organisational change as a stable unidimensional concept. The evolving character of organisational change and its implications for change management practices are briefly indicated.